‘Well, I’ve heard it all now!’ Angela pulled a face and Enya did her best to ignore her.
‘Shall we go, Trish?’ Enya walked briskly, wanting to put as much distance between her and her sister as possible.
‘Yes, see you all in a bit!’ Trish waved. Enya locked eyes with her dad, who gave her a small smile of understanding. She was glad he was there.
‘My sister.’ Enya shook her head. ‘I knew she’d worry if she thought there might be a secret ceremony she’s missing out on!’
‘I get it.’ Trish stopped on the path. ‘I totally get it. I’m saying I’m fine with it, because I don’t want Iris to worry or give it a second thought, but truth is, I’m absolutely gutted not to have been asked to the registry office. I cry every time I think about it.’
‘Oh, Trish!’ She placed her hand on the woman’s arm.
‘It’s ridiculous, isn’t it – as Iris says, a quick in and out and nothing to it, so why has it upset me so much?’
Enya took her time forming a response, warmed by the woman’s honesty, her vulnerability. ‘I understand completely, and I guess it’s because that’s the actual moment they’ll be officially married, and we won’t be there. And probably because our babies are getting married at all, our little ones, all grown up and gone!’
‘I guess so, and also it’s the final thing, isn’t it. Once they’re married, my husband will ship out. The beginning of the end.’
Enya nodded. She hadn’t considered this glaring fact and she felt for the woman, knowing what it was like to wake up in a big bed all alone and not to hear the sound of her husband pottering.
‘I envy her, you know.’ Trish looked into the middle distance. ‘I envy her that new start. She’s at the beginning, when everything feels possible. But it doesn’t last, does it? The gloss quickly wears off and you realise that marriage is not all it was cracked up to be, not all you thought itmightbe, all it could be, and it’s bloody disappointing.’ Trish took a long breath through her nose and pulled back her shoulders. ‘Anyway, we should get going, don’t want Iris wondering where we’ve got to.’
‘Absolutely!’
Enya walked slightly behind Trish on the path, feeling more than a little saddened by her words. The one thing she could say with certainty about her marriage to Jonathan was that it had bloomed into a beautiful, deep, loving friendship, which was more than she had ever thought it could be, and the only real disappointment was that he had abandoned her too soon.
‘There you are!’ Iris called.
‘Oh Iris! Oh, my goodness!’ Enya took in the stunning gown, which was long and draped and simple yet stylish, the folds of ivory silk falling as if contoured exactly to her shape. ‘You look stunning!’
It was an odd sensation, this beautiful girl who was in a short time to become her daughter-in-law, yet Enya viewed her with a certain detachment, admired her as she would any other beautiful bride, for she was indeed beautiful. The fact was, she had met Iris only a few times, exchanged no more than a handful of sentences with her. They were, in so many ways, strangers. Yet the way she had witnessed her talking to Holly, reassuring and including her, and how ecstatically happy she made Aiden, were indicators that led Enya to believe that in time they would become close. In fact, she was certain of it.
‘Doesn’t she just.’ Trish reached up into her sleeve with her fingers and fished out a cotton handkerchief with which she blotted under her eyes and nose.
The bridesmaids wore spaghetti-strapped slip dresses in a similar fabric, the colour of a blushing peach, dresses that were elegant yet without the delicate ruching and draping that gave Iris’s dress its structure.
‘Where’s Dad?’ Iris looked around; Trish did the same. Enya was only relieved by his absence. Bumping into him on the path earlier had been bad enough; she feared it would be that much worse to have to face him in company.
‘Who knows?’ Trish shrugged. ‘But my guess is, as he can’t be working on his boat, he’ll be online reading about his boat or watching tutorials on how to fix something on his boat or buying a part for his boat.’
‘Okay.’ It might have been her wedding day, but this didn’t appear to stop Iris from issuing calm and considered instructions to make sure the ceremony went exactly how she wanted it to. ‘Here’s the plan. Enya, you are going to walk with my dad, the two of you will pair up here, and follow the bridesmaids, who will follow Mum, who’ll be walking with me. Aiden will be waiting with Jim by the celebrant at the spot where the ceremony will happen. The guests will all be seated on either side. The chairs are in a slight arc.’
Enya felt light-headed, her mouth suddenly a little dry. She didn’t want to be disagreeable or seem rude, but...
‘I thought, thought your dad would be, erm, walking with you, to the, the service area.’ She heard the falter in her tone and so smiled to show that all was well.
‘I guess traditionally, yes, but Aiden and I discussed it, and neither of us wanted you to be on your own. I know this is a day of celebration, but I also know it must be a hard one without Aiden’s dad here.’
‘That’s...’ She didn’t know what to say, didn’t know how to politely suggest an alternative.
‘Don’t overthink it, Enya,’ Trish chimed, ‘it’s my honour to walk Iris up the aisle. She means the world to me and it’s symbolic, one of the last things I can do before she starts this new life with Aiden.’
With Trish’s upset fresh in her mind over not being invited to the registry office, and her admission over Dominic’s imminent departure, Enya felt well and truly backed into a corner.
‘Then when we get to the spot where Aiden will be waiting, Mum will stand back a little, but next to Aiden, so she can properly see me. You will stand back a bit, Enya, but next to me so youcan properly see Aiden, Dad will be next to Mum. It’ll all become clear and Rhona, the celebrant, will be on hand to guide anyone to where they should be standing, and if it’s not smooth, it doesn’t matter, nothing does!’ Iris beamed.
‘Well, look who’s decided to turn up?’ Trish sniped.
Enya turned to see Dominic. He was wearing a pale-blue linen blazer, almost the exact shade of her dress, navy chinos and a white open-necked shirt. He looked fantastic and there it was again, that darned firework. She thought about Frank scrolling property sites on his phone, Angela speaking overly loudly about the price of the house, any unpalatable topic to lower her mood, in case there was the faintest chance that her less than demure, less than mother-of-the-groom thoughts might be glimpsed in her face.
